1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to methods of playing games in swimming pools or other bodies of water and apparatus for use in playing such games.
2. Description of Prior Art
Several devices have been developed over the years that have utility as swimming pool toys. For example, in 1935, U.S. Pat. No. 2,013,410 was awarded to Howland for an inflatable horse suitable for straddling by a rider. Another U.S. Pat. No. 2,404,729, was issued in 1944 to Hurt for a similar device. Neither the Howland nor the Hurt devices provided handle members to which the riders of the inflatable toys could hold.
A patent showing the use of hand holds was awarded to Wilkins in 1961 (U.S. Pat. No. 2,997,299), and an inflatable toy having a seat belt was patented in 1963 by Williams (U.S. Pat. No. 3,102,280). U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,931 shows an inflatable toy having bulbous upraised ends and a concavity therebetween upon which a rider sits.
The art of rideable pool toys does not include the combination of inflatable toys having mounting means to which may be attached rope members the free ends of which may be grasped and tugged by non-riders in an attempt to unseat a rider. Nor does the art teach games playable by two (2) or more riders where one rider tugs a rope attached to another rider's mount in an attempt to unseat the latter. Nor does the art suggest pursuit games where one rider on an inflatable, tailed mount is pursued by another rider on another inflatable mount who attempts to maneuver into a position to remove the tail.